Composition floor covering of resilient pliable coated material



June 28, 1949. w. R. WALKER 2,474,767

COMPOSI I N FLOOR COVERING 0F RESILIENT IA COATED MATERIAL Fi Oct. 2,1944 Inventor M4 Z MM E0508 TML KE/B,

Patented June 28, 1949 COM-P SITEQN FLQOR COVERINGK OEiBiESIEEt-IEN'I,JRLIABLE;COATEDFMATERJIALl.

WilliamRbbert-Wa'lker, Baltimore, Md.

Applicatiom Octoborr-Z, 1944rzSeria1xN0: 556516915" 2 Claims- Thisinvention relates to. floor, coyer-ingsand especially to floorcoveringsof ,theresilient. type. This type of floor covering is usually.appliedtbyl menting webs, of, very..lar.ge width directly to. theconcrete floor." WhereHthe,fioorsareahtobe coveredfis wider, than-.-the, width of the: twebs usedl seve al lwebs, are ,cemented to the floorside, by, side.

With wooden floorsalayer of felt is interposed; but. otherwise.theprocesais the same With;this methodof, application the decorativeefiect which can be obtainedlis.very-limited. The design which isapplied to the surface lair-print, ing, or otherwiseehas, .-to. fulfillsomany requirements and conditions that merely uniformly coloredsurfaces or; small: elementsinaconstant repetition or some verycarefully composed stylized pattern which may be cuterjoined everywhereare suitable. This naturally restricts the use of such floor coverings,to certain typesof rooms.

The inventionhas for its object to replace the old method of coveringthe, floor by one piece oi resilient material... or .bylavery smallnumber of juxt posedc webscemented tolrth'el floors and to introduce.:-ai method, of, ,f1o0r covering in: which a, substantial. portion. of,the .fioorxor a certain arbitrarily, seleictedportion. thereof arecovered 'by frictionally 'heldunits ofl the resilient material;

According t to the invention; exactly cut pieces or units of resilientfloor covering, such as linoleum, rubber floor. coveringecorls:carpetand other resilient, coverings are used, .of a size which-Varies fromlargctpanels of several feetvin length; and width .to small panelsC0MGIiDg-,,-a,;5qua1ie3 1E001 or less,v which,are closely juxtaposed,side by side, without joining them otherwise and which are enclosed in aholding frame cemented to the floor in the usual manner above describedand encircling the area to be covered by the tile-like units.

Each unit consists, however, not of a simple piece of material but oftwo pieces exactly alike and cut to the same size cemented together withtheir backs and therefore turning their smooth and decorative sidesoutwardly.

This method of producing a floor covering has a number of importantadvantages practically unobtainable with the floor coverings as hithertoused.

The cementing of the pieces, back to back, increases greatly thestiffness and solidity of a unit; it eliminates effectively the tendencyof cut pieces to curl up, which is very marked in small pieces ofinhomogeneous structure such as linoleum, or such as rubber, which issometimes provided with 2; a,.-sponge-rubber. base, But it. alsoprovides two, usable, surfaces :so that one it panel may do double; duty,,as regards surface wear and may, moreover,, be used. mucl'i morefreely, as two decorativesurn, faces .are now-v available.

Moreover, the very fact that the room is coy-- eredrby, a considerable-numbenof units presents. a, muchgreater, freedom as-regards thedecorative design; so thatmany; restrictions, due to the; fact,

that. ahsingletweb or two or three parallel, webs? have to be used,disappears altogether.v

The, even, -holding of. i-the; units ton, .the floor Without,displacement is. accomplished by their, juxtaposition infrictionalacontact with each otherv within, alframe whose'sides are spaced so astotake llQgtl'lGtIEQlllFfid numberzof units. The unitsiwhent heldattheir edges. are wedged in, just in the same way in which flagstoneshold together, without any, cement or asphalt? andlthey can.,-beseparatedr ,-only, after I overcoming great, resistance. Thetunits.forma'surface cover in, themselves .justas if they were-forming a co-:herent surface. This.issimplysdue tothefach that .they are firmlyheldand pressed; towards.

l. each, other, vv-henthey are fitted :intortherframe.

A further advantage .ot the floor covering 3,01 cording tothainvention,;consists-inlthe fact that. the =1aying=.,-out, oft-thistype-z of-,fioor-*covering entails lessskill, less, -labor,and,1ess.material than: therusual, fiooracoveringtthe last mentionedadvantagabeing amortsequence not the reduction; of,

the waste material. The floor is more elastic;

whenlwalkcdt on on account, of t the double thickness,.-and.thecoveringqmay be replaced, easily at:

thetsnots whioh are :pworntout, therefore, it, is much more, economicalthan the floor coverings. as;

hitherto known It is moreover possible to use the usual resilient floorcovering together with the system according to the invention by cuttingout areas in which particular or varying designs are required, or inwhich wear of a heavy kind is to be expected, and by filling said areasby one or more units of the type above described.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way ofexample, but it is to be understood that the example shown which i1-lustrates a linoleum floor covering for a bigroom is not in any waylimitative and that other materials, and especially diiferent sizes andnumbers of units, may be used without in any way departing from theinvention as pointed out in the foregoing general description.

Figure 1 is a complete floor covering for a, large square room.

wardly while the unsightly backing forms the supporting skeleton in theinterior of the unit.

These elements may simply be laid on the floor side by side so that theycover the entire room. Those units which are located near the border maybe cut to the size of the space which is left for them.

The frame consists of strips l9 which are laid out and glued to thefloor in the customary way, care being taken to select a strip ofappropriate thickness, or to provide a supporting layer of felt ofappropriate thickness to make up for the increased thickness of theunits so that the surface of the frame may be even with the surface ofthe units II when laid out. The units II are then inserted into the freespace defined and enclosed by the frame which is of a predetermined areaadapted to receive a predetermined number of units when laid out side byside in frictional contact with each other.

Irregularities on the floor space to be covered may be taken care of bylaying out a frame I6, [1, l8, I9 of such width that theseirregularities are contained Within the area covered by the frame whilethe area defined by the frame is more or less of regular shape and ofpredetermined size.

It will be clear that any type of ornament or design may be made whichis suited to the character of the room and to its size and thatprovision may be made for a change in the event that the character ofthe room is changed in the course of time. This result may either beobtained by selecting units provided with such colored patterns orornamental designs that they are capable to be assembled in various ordifferent orders so that at least two or three artistic p atters orseveral color schemes may be formed. The elements of the pattern or ofthe ornamental design may, of course, be arranged on both sides of theunit.

When wear is great merely in certain spots a regular change of units atcertain intervals replacing the worn units by others and transferringthem to a spot where wear is less will greatly increase the life of afloor covering.

I claim:

1. A floor covering comprising a frame of a material consisting of asmooth layer provided with a backing fixed to the floor with its uppersurface at a level corresponding to twice the thickness of the aforesaidmaterial, said frame encircling an opening, and of a number of separateunconnected units, each consisting of two sheets of the aforesaidmaterial of the same size, having their backings adhesively securedtogether with the smooth layers turned outwardly, a number of such unitsbeing aligned side by side solely in frictional contact with the floor,filling the opening encircled by the frame, said units being wedged inso as to be held by the frictional contact between each other andbetween them and the frame, said frame and said units being resilientand pliable.

2. A floor covering comprising a frame of a material consisting of asmooth layer of resilient and pliable material adhering to and stiffenedby a pliable backing, fixed to the floor and encircling an opening, andseparate unconnected units, consisting of two sheets of theaforementioned material composed of a smooth layer and a backing, thesheets being of the same size and having their backing adhesivelysecured together, with the smooth layers turned outwardly, said unitsbeing solely in frictional contact with the floor, but fillingcompletely the space within the opening of the frame, in side by siderelation, and being held only by lateral pressure with the units wedgedin between the sides of the opening in the frame.

WILLIAM ROBERT WALKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file ofthis patent:

